Jason Day receives treatment on back in Round 1 at the Masters
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AUGUSTA, GEORGIA - APRIL 11: Jason Day of Australia stands on the second green during the first round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on April 11, 2019 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jason Day is playing Thursday’s first round of the Masters with back pain – and it may have something to do with his daughter.
ESPN reported that Day aggravated his back while on the practice putting green before his round when he picked up his daughter Lucy. “Oh, my back,” Day reportedly said, according to ESPN.
Day has been troubled by back problems recently, and it forced him to withdraw from this year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Day kept his tee time on Thursday, though, and started his round, opening with a bogey.
Then on the second hole, he received treatment on his back, and was prone on the ground at one point as a physiotherapist attended to him.
Day continued to play, though, and birdied the par-5 second to get back to even par, then also birdied the par-5 eighth to move into red numbers. He'd card birdies on Nos. 13 and 16 before a bogey on the par-4 17th dropped him back to 2-under 70 for the day. He was still walking gingerly between shots.
"He seems to have a bad back all the time and plays great. So I'm sure he knows what he's doing," said fellow Aussie Adam Scott after shooting a 3-under 69. "Hopefully, it's nothing major and he gets through and then he can play the rest of the week."
Scott and Day are scheduled to play together two weeks from now at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Until suffering his back injury prior to Bay Hill, Day had shown good form with seven consecutive top-20 finishes. He returned to action at THE PLAYERS Championship and finished T-8, but his back was still an issue during the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play.
Asked by the Augusta Chronicle about his back this week, Day said, “If it starts to hurt, I’ll have to tough it out. The Match Play was very hard trying to get through that, but I’ve had a week off now, so all-in-all I feel pretty good.”
While Day has never won the Masters, his track record at Augusta National made him one of the expected contenders this week. He tied for second in 2011, and also finished top 10 in 2013 and 2016.